Great Western Coffee Shop

From within a Rail News article (https://www.railnews.co.uk/news/2021/02/26-more-trains-for-leisure-and.html)


Just for fun - what name(s) would you choose from?  Choose up to four ... and coming up with the ideas showed me just how hard it is to find a name!

Although the comment is there will be a new name, I have include the current one and one we've had before just in case members feel we should stay as we are.  Members are welcome to post new ideas too.

And I say "just for fun" ... but I have no objection should the powers that read this and say "what a good idea" ... my fee is ...

Could I suggest a slight contraction of one of the existing choices ?  I think "G'Rail" would be most suitable. Then people could also waste their time looking for this mythical and wondrous entity for the next two thousand years .........just like its almost identically named fabulous object of desire.

What an interesting challenge!

A cartoon did the rounds in 1923; a GWR porter has just seen the 'Grouping' express speed through his station. "Never even blew me hat orft!", he says, before presumably carrying on as usual. So I neither know nor much care what they call the railway in lesser regions, as long as here it remains (as God himself ordained) the Great Western.

Railcracked?

While I sympathise with the idea of a new name now that NR is (effectively) running the whole show with the old TOC's just providing websites staff and uniforms, (so I voted for British Railways - let's revert to their wonderful "British Rail era" clear black on white signage!), I am depressed that someone thinks that changing the name will make much difference.

Ironically, for the vast majority of folk, my guess is that they have almost no opinion on NR or its performance. The customer facing TOCs were the targets of their ire, whoever might have been ultimately responsible for the last delay/cancellation/failure to communicate that caused them inconvenience and frustration.

Perhaps (whatever they end up being called) their strapline should be "yes - it's our fault!"

The choice English Rail implies complete devolution to Scotland and Wales. 

Trains R Us
Rail is Us
UK Rail
Rail UK
The Great British Inland and Overseas Railway Transportation Corporation
Railly Great
BritTrain
TraSiSta*
Track'n'Treck
Trantrain
Britrak
Her Majesty's Railway Service
Royal Rail
Railgo!

*= track, signaling, stations

The Fat Controller?

How about something boring like The Rail Authority - After all those signs on bridges say that is who to phone if you damage the bridge. So no need for expensive sign changes. 

Bmblbzzz went all round Track and Train quite without landing on it.

Ah! And no-one's suggested Raily McRailface or Trainy McTrainface yet...

An excellent set of ideas which reminds me why I am NOT involved I'm marketing - thank you.  I also posted onto Facebook (to flag up to members ...) and that generated a lot of responses onto a share of the post ... no less that 56 comments

https://www.facebook.com/groups/12135242142/permalink/10157539017912143

(http://www.wellho.net/pix/namesprinkle.jpg)

At times of disruption - FailRail or SnailRail
Prisoner transportation service - JailRail
In Wales - WalesRails

Anagrams can provide inspiration - How about In Work Later

And the muppet(s) in charge believe that a, no doubt very expensive, rebrand when the UK economy is just about to vanish round a very large u-bend is a brilliant idea because.....

(Obviously I have just voted to retain the existing name. If they keep it the government can then afford to cancel the annual fare rise.  ;D)

Ideally, British Rail.

Rebrand all the TOCs at the same time to the same name.

Vote result ...


Well - that outcome is astonishing.  23 out of 33 voters (70%) selected "British Railways" as one of their preferences.   Multiple votes were allowed, and even after that more than half the votes cast were for "British Railways"

Within our (unrepresentative) group, couldn't be much clearer!

Interesting to see if a government of the same colour of the one that scrapped "British Rail(ways)" could stomach the idea of re-introducing the name.  Stranger things have happened!

It should obviously be called the Great Western Rly, TOC notwithstanding.

Alternatively, in deference to NPR and to England's premier Counties, it should be called the Lancashire and Yorkshire Rly.

What it must have is a General Manager.

OTC

This use of "Great" in interesting - and dates from way back in rail history??    Intertesting that "Great British Rail(way) got votes - but was a poor second to British Rail(ways)).

Olden days ... Great Eastern, Great Western, Great Northern. The exception was Great Southern which was Ireland; I suspect that competing companies were "marketing" as they grabbed territory and don't really know if that's right for the current times.

'London...' was also a popular pre-grouping railway company name.

London and Blackwall Railway
London and Birmingham Railway
London and Brighton Railway
London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
London, Chatham and Dover Railway
London and Croydon Railway
London and Greenwich Railway
London and North Western Railway
London and Southampton Railway
London and South Western Railway
London, Tilbury and Southend Railway
North London Railway

Given the thinking that seems to be circulating in high places these days*, Union Railways might have something going for it... with a certain degree of ambiguity added-value? 

What would TaplowGreen think of it?


*
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/968214/DfT-Union-Connectivity-Review-Interim-Report-March-2021-accessible.pdf (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/968214/DfT-Union-Connectivity-Review-Interim-Report-March-2021-accessible.pdf)

In the case of the GWR it dates back to 1833, but the epithet was applied to coach roads (such as the Great North Road) from the end of the 17th Century. It's used pretty much synonymously with 'main', rather than in the modern sense of 'much better than average', though the GWR obviously meets both criteria admirably.

The GER and GNR, like the GWR, were essentially major routes which grew into networks. Routes from London to the South-East, on the other hand, were a bit on the short side to be described as 'Great'.